How to Draw Pancakes

To help you develop your food-drawing skills, we created this lesson on how to draw pancakes stacked on a plate.

Pancakes are found almost all over the world, though they are called differently – injera in Africa, serabi in Indonesia, okonomiyaki in Japan, blinchiki in Slavic cuisine, and so on. Today we are going to draw a classic stack of pancakes.

In our example, the pancakes are quite thin and there are many of them, but you can easily vary their thickness and number. And of course, using this lesson, you can draw pancakes of any type from any cuisine of the world.

How to draw pancakes step by step

Step 1: Create the main cylindrical form

To draw pancakes correctly, first you should sketch a wide and short cylinder. You can make the cylinder taller or shorter depending on the number of pancakes in the stack. Note that in the initial stages you should use light and smooth lines for the general outlines. In our cylinder drawing lesson, we explain in detail how to create this shape and give it a volumetric appearance.

Step 2: Draw the curved pancake edges

Now it’s time to turn the simple cylinder into something that looks more like a drawing of a stack of pancakes. To do this, divide the shape into many segments by drawing horizontal curved lines at equal distances from each other. When drawing these lines, try to take the rounded shape of the stack into account.

Step 3: Draw the plate under the pancakes

Now draw the plate under the stack so it doesn’t look like it’s floating in the air. The plate looks like two simple shapes – a broad, flat rim and a short bottom. Check the symmetry of the plate and the entire composition. The basic sketch of the pancakes is complete, and from the next stage we will begin working on the details.

Step 4: Refine the edges of the pancakes

To begin adding detail to your drawing, carefully trace the contours of each pancake. They do not have to be smooth or perfectly symmetrical. The edge of each pancake can be wavy and does not need to match the contours of the pancakes below or above it. After that, remove the unwanted guidelines from the stack and move on to the next step of the instruction on how to draw pancakes.

Step 5: Complete the plate and top surface

To complete the detailing of the sketch, outline and darken the lines of the plate and the pancakes. On the top, you can draw the contours of the darkest areas of the upper pancake. They vary in size and extend in different directions, but they all have oval or rounded shapes. However, pancakes can differ greatly from one another, so you can also depict a perfectly smooth top surface if you prefer.

Step 6: Draw shadows on the pancakes and plate

In order for our pancakes to look more realistic, add some shadows. First, determine the light source so you can depict the shadows as accurately and naturally as possible. As you can see, the light comes to this delicious stack of pancakes from the top right side. After that, add shadows to the lower left side. You can also add a cast shadow to indicate the surface of the table on which the plate rests. If your pancakes drawing looks similar to ours, then you did everything correctly.

In this pancake drawing lesson, we depicted a very recognizable image of a large stack on a plate. We used a highly realistic style with shadows and details, but you can simplify everything by reducing the number of pancakes or removing the texture and shading.

You can also make the drawing more complex by adding, for example, a piece of butter on top or creating a detailed background.

In addition, you can include the pancake drawing in a more complex composition, such as drawing a cake next to the stack or drawing a cup of coffee.

After that, be sure to experiment and try drawing different types of pancakes from various countries to refine your skills.

And to make sure you don’t miss any new lessons, be sure to follow us on social media and leave your comment with suggestions, and let us know whether this lesson felt easy for you.